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on Confederation of Independent States |
| By: | Konstantin Kholodilin (DIW Berlin, Germany); Alexei Oshchepkov (Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia); Boriss Siliverstovs (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the income convergence among Russian regions in the period 1998- 2006. It makes two major contributions to rather extensive literature on the regional con- vergence in Russia. First, it identifies spatial regimes using the exploratory spatial data analysis. Second, it examines the impact of spatial effects on the convergence process. Our results show that the overall speed of regional convergence in Russia, being low by inter- national standards, becomes even lower after controlling for spatial effects. However, when accounting for the spatial regimes, we find a strong regional convergence among high-income regions located near other high-income regions. Our results indicate that estimation of speed of convergence using aggregate data may result in misleading conclusions regarding the na- ture of convergence process among Russia’s regions. |
| Keywords: | Regional convergence, spatial regimes, spatial effects |
| JEL: | C21 O47 R12 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:09-216&r=cis |
| By: | Ivan Savin (Department of Economics, Justus-Liebig University Gießen); Peter Winker (Department of Economics, Justus-Liebig University Gießen) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a new approach of forecasting “prospective" comparative advantages based on relative prices differences between countries in the context of economic liberalization. An empirical analysis based on the example of Central and East European countries that have already passed the transition period from specialization mainly in natural resource- and labor-intensive goods to \high-tech" goods confirms a significant influence of our “prospective" advantages on comparative advantages dynamics. Using this method we identify a set of industries in Russia that seem to be most promising for formation of comparative advantages in the context of its economic liberalization and joining the WTO agreements. These industries include high and medium technological industries like machinery building, pharmaceutical products, railway transport, electronic and medical equipment. |
| Keywords: | comparative advantage, competitive advantage, economy in transition, Balassa index, Lafay index. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:200914&r=cis |
| By: | Melvukhina, Olga; Tanguay, Luc; Vaughan, Odette; Jotanovic, Aleksandar |
| Abstract: | In recent years, as a result of a strong demand for energy and other natural resources, Russia's economy has experienced impressive growth. Russia's re-emergence as a political and, particularly, economic power have allowed it to increase policy support to its agricultural sector. Russia's size, improving prospects, and growing policy support make developments in its agricultural sector of interest to Canada. |
| Keywords: | Russia, agricultural policy, regionalization, ruble, energy demand, transparency, Agricultural and Food Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaacem:46511&r=cis |
| By: | Brienna Perelli-Harris (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Theodore P. Gerber |
| Abstract: | Using retrospective union, birth, and education histories that span 1980-2003, this study investigates nonmarital childbearing in post-Soviet Russia. We employ a combination of methods to decompose fertility rates by union status and analyze the processes that lead to a nonmarital birth. We find that the primary cause of the increase in the proportion of nonmarital births is not due to the changing fertility behavior of cohabitors, nor to changes in union behavior after conception, but due to the increasing proportion of women who cohabit before conception. We also find that the relationship between education and nonmarital childbearing has not changed over time; the least educated women have the highest birth rates within cohabitation and as single mothers, primarily due to a lower probability of legitimating a nonmarital conception. Based on these findings, we argue that Russia has more in common with the pattern of disadvantage in the United States, as opposed to the trends described by the second demographic transition. We also find several aspects of non-marital childbearing that neither of these perspectives anticipates. |
| Keywords: | Russia, cohabitation, family, fertility |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-007&r=cis |